Sun Stocks Sinks Lower As Company Rejects IBM Offer

Sun Microsystems shares (JAVA) have tumbled as low as 24% in morning trading after the company rejected the $7 billion takeover offer from IBM (International Business Machines). Sun's shares were down to $6 in pre-morning trading and could become much worse by the end of the closing today.

It is not clear whether Sun is going to continue talks with IBM or if they are attempting to find another alternative.

Sun originally traded under stock symbol, SUNW for "Sun Workstations" and later "Sun Worldwide" back in 1986. The symbol was changed to JAVA in 2007 because Sun thought the brand awareness associated with the Java platform better represented what the company was offering to the public.

During the dotcom bubble, Sun experienced massive growth in profits and revenue. Their stock reached an all time high of $257 a share in mid-to-late 2000 but after the burst of the bubble in late 2001 the stock sank to $31 a share. For almost a decade the stock has been stable around $15 - $20 a share but since 2007 the share has continued to sink lower and lower - and now to $6.48 in this morning's trading.